Bin boxes, particularly those intended for industrial or commercial use, are employed to contain and/or transport a variety of products or parts. The side and end walls are often constructed in a manner which permits them to be folded down upon the base, making the bin box collapsible. When empty, the bin boxes can be collapsed so that they occupy less space.
Bin boxes are manufactured in different sizes depending on requirements. However, keeping an inventory of bin boxes of different sizes can be very costly.
One object of this invention is to provide a collapsible bin box assembly which can be made from two collapsible bin boxes. Thus the individual bin boxes may be used separately in a conventional manner, or two may be combined to provide an enlarged bin box assembly.
In accordance with a specific embodiment of the invention, two collapsible bin boxes are placed together end-to-end, and the adjacent end walls of the two bin boxes are folded down. The side walls at each side of the bin box assembly are interconnected, and together with the remote end walls of the two bin boxes, form an enlarged container of approximately double the capacity of either one of the bin boxes taken by itself.
The side walls of the two bin boxes from which the enlarged bin box assembly is formed are interconnected by a splice of novel construction. This splice has hooks which engage the adjacent edge portions of the side walls at each side of the bin box assembly, and preferably has a cap at one end for properly locating the splice with respect to the interconnected side walls. The splice has a part which is specially formed to fit in a recess along the adjacent edges of the side walls, to retain the hooks engaged with the side edge portions of the side walls.
The resulting enlarged bin box assembly is rigidly held together by the splices, and the interconnected side walls are capable of swinging as a unit from the normal upright position of use to a collapsed position when the bin box assembly is empty.
A further object of the invention is to provide a bin box assembly which is of rugged and durable construction, easy to manufacture, formed of a relatively few simple parts, and well designed for the accomplishment of its intended function.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings.